judicial precedent Flashcards
what is judicial precedent
following deceisions made by courts
hierarchy of courts-criminal
European court Supreme court Court of Appeal High court Crown court Magistrates court
What is an appellate court
A court which hears appeals.They can change precedents/ the law.
Which courts are appellate and which are trial?
European, Supreme, court of appeal are appellate
High court both
Crown court and magistrates are trial
What is a trial court
Courts that hear cases and apply existing law to them.. They can’t change the law
Stare decisis
‘let what has been decided stand’ the essence of precedent
Ratio decedendi
‘reason for deciding’ the nub of the case
binding part of the judgement
Obiter dicta
‘sayings by the way’ Anything in a judgement that is not the ratio
What is it called when an appeal court makes a decision
a judgement
What happens when a judgement is made
That judgement is written down and may contain the judgements from a number of judges
What 2 things are legally relevant
the ‘ratio’ part of the judgement that explains the decision they have made in relation to the facts of the case and the reasons for it. This is the only part that is binding
the ‘obiter’ is everything else in the judgement
Hierarchy of the courts-civil
European courts of justice(human rights) Supreme court Court of appeal High court County court
Precedent in the European court of justice
not bound by it’s previous decisions
Precedent in the Supreme court
highest domestic court
decisions in the supreme court binding on all other national courts
decisions of the ecj bind rhe supreme court in european law
Cases for precedent in the Supreme court
London Street Tramways v. London County Council (1898)
Practice statement 1966
‘Indispensable foundation’
‘…when it appears right to do so’
Only applies to the Supreme Court
Herrington v. British Railways Board (1972) overruled Addie v Dumbreck (1929)
R. v. Shivpuri (1986)- overruled Anderton v. Ryan (1985)
